Walbridge, the Detroit-based construction and engineering firm, is serving as the general contractor for Related Digital’s Saline Township data center development. It is the single largest project in the company’s 110-year history, and the largest economic investment ever made in the state of Michigan.
Developed by Related Digital exclusively for Oracle and OpenAI, the $16 billion, gigawatt-scale campus is being built under a first-in-the-nation project labor agreement covering more than 2,500 union tradespeople and apprentices.
More than 200,000 union trade hours already have been logged on the 250-acre site with hundreds of Michigan tradespeople on the job every day. It is projected to open in 2029.
“Building the infrastructure that will power the next generation of American AI — in our home state, with our union partners, on a campus of this scale — is exactly the work this company was built to do,” says John Rakolta III, president of Walbridge. “(We have) been part of Michigan’s industrial story for more than a century. We intend to help write the next one.”
The partnership between Related Digital and Walbridge began at the earliest stages of the project, with the collaboration being central to the design of the project labor agreement, executed under the National Maintenance Agreement and governing all 14-signatory affiliated skilled trade unions.
The Saline Township facility is said to be the first data center in the country to be built under the memorandum of understanding between OpenAI and North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU).
“Walbridge’s understanding of what it takes to deliver a project of this scale and clear commitment to building to the highest standards of safety and craftsmanship made them the right partner from day one,” says Bruce A. Beal Jr., president of Related Cos. “Their deep relationships with the Michigan building trades, developed over a century of working together, led the way for this historic labor agreement.
“Together we are delivering a model of responsible AI infrastructure development in America, one that is strengthening Michigan workers and manufacturing across our country.”
Mike Haller, CEO of Walbridge, says, “A project of this scale demands more than technical capability — it demands trust, partnership, and a shared commitment to the community where we are building.
“We are proud to help shape an agreement that creates good union jobs in Washtenaw County, expands apprenticeship pathways across Michigan, and sets a national standard for how this new generation of critical infrastructure should be built.”
Over its history, Walbridge has built manufacturing plants, automotive facilities, hospitals, and universities. The Stargate Michigan campus represents a new chapter: one of the most technically complex construction projects in the country.
Walbridge also is establishing a modular Safety and Quality Center on the Saline Township campus to support electrical apprentice training and expand the pipeline of skilled tradespeople needed to build out AI infrastructure across the region.
The economic footprint of Stargate Michigan extends well beyond the construction site, according to Walbridge. Across the United States, the project represents more than $5 billion in direct and indirect labor investment, drawing on contractors, tradespeople, and manufacturers from 14 states.
Michigan companies are among those delivering some of the most technically demanding work on the campus. Kais-Air in Holly (part of Kaiser Enterprise in Troy) is responsible for both the mechanical and electrical skid assemblies (SKID) and the hot aisle containment systems (HAC).
The 250-acre campus, known as “The Barn” for the historic red barn preserved at its Michigan Avenue entrance, includes:
- Three 550,000-square-foot single-story data halls, totaling more than 1.65 million square feet of LEED-certified data center space.
- Closed-loop cooling systems limiting daily water use to levels comparable to a standard office building, protecting Michigan’s water resources and the Great Lakes.
- 100 percent of power supplied by DTE Energy from existing resources, augmented by a new project-financed battery storage investment, with infrastructure costs borne entirely by the project and creating a $300 million annual affordability benefit for customers.
- More than 2,500 union construction jobs during the build and an estimated 450 permanent on-site jobs.
- Hundreds of acres preserved as farmland, wetlands, and open space.
- $14 million in direct investment in local fire services and new community and farmland preservation funds.
Other local trade partners on the project include:
- Motor City Electric in Detroit
- Progressive Mechanical Inc. in Clawson
- John E. Green in Highland Park
- Shaw / E-J Electric in Southfield
- Superior Electric Great Lakes in Auburn Hills
- Triangle Electric in Madison Heights
- Universal Piping Industries in Troy
For more information, visit walbridge.com.
